https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/492478850266578944/
Taylor Townsend found herself woefully outnumbered at a World Tennis Team event on Thursday.
Townsend knocked her doubles partner, Liezel Huber, out of their match when Townsend accidentally hit Huber in the back of the head with a forehand.
For the rest of the match, Townsend took on her two opponents by herself.
If playing doubles two-on-one doesn’t sound hard enough, Townsend was not allowed to return serves from her partner’s side of the court. Instead, the 18-year-old resorted to trying to distract Martina Hingis and Anastasia Rodionova when they served to Huber’s side.
Since World Tennis Team is scored by taking the cumulative points won over five sets, it was crucial that Townsend not forfeit the match.
Townsend’s extreme disadvantage quickly won over the opposing Washington crowd, and she managed to steal a few points. That earned her a standing ovation after the match.
Townsend, ranked No. 145 in the world, originally was not on a World Tennis Team roster this season, but decided to take her friend Vicky Duval’s place on the Philadelphia Freedom after Duval was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.